Private Sector; Rising at Ford, Without Fanfare (original) (raw)

Business|Private Sector; Rising at Ford, Without Fanfare

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/05/business/private-sector-rising-at-ford-without-fanfare.html

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May 5, 2002

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May 5, 2002

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MANY times over the last two years, Toshinori Kusuhashi looked up from the assembly line at Mazda Motor's Hofu factory in western Japan to see the company's energetic young American president, Mark Fields.

Mr. Fields, 41, would show up without warning, and without an entourage, to walk the floor of the factory, considered one of the industry's most efficient, and to pick the brains of plant officials like Mr. Kusuhashi, the deputy general manager. The impromptu visits took some doing, since Hofu is two hours from Mazda's Hiroshima headquarters.

They were part of Mr. Fields' crash-course in understanding Mazda, which is controlled by Ford Motor. ''You have to value your own culture and be literate in others,'' said Mr. Fields. ''I'll never be an expert on Japan in 50 years, but I can develop a deep awareness.''

Now, Mr. Fields must develop an awareness elsewhere. In June, he will move to London to become head of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, a collection of European luxury brands including Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and Land Rover.

Named to the job on April 19, he was a surprise choice to replace the veteran automotive executive Wolfgang Reitzle, a former board member at the German automaker BMW. Mr. Reitzle, who left to become chief executive at Linde A.G., an engineering firm, had close ties to Ford's former chief executive, Jacques A. Nasser, who was ousted last year.

Surprise, in fact, seems to be part of Mr. Fields' management style. Just as he never gave advance warning when he visited a Mazda factory, he offered no hint to Mazda colleagues that he was even in line for the Ford luxury-car job, stunning them with news he would be leaving just hours before it was announced.

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